March Wrap Up

Click to listen! Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Hello Hello! I hope you are all well!

This past month went by so fast, and even though I read quite a few books, I didn’t get to all of the ones on my TBR but considering what happened in March, I’m not going to beat myself up about it!

I had 13 books on my March TBR and I managed to read 7 of them, plus another 3 that weren’t on the list, bringing my March total to 10 books. I don’t think that’s too bad, it’s actually my best month of the year so far (although it’s only the 5^th of April and I’ve already read 6 books). I think we can clearly say that my December-January reading slump is officially over, I hope that during isolation I can get a tonne of books off my TBR. Keep reading to find out which books I read and what I thought of them!

BOOKS READ

My Favourite Book of the Month

Forget me Not by Anca Antoci – 5 stars

Out of the 10 books I read, I think that this one stands out the most. I read this for my first ever @booktamins tour and I knew from the blurb that I would like this book, but I didn’t realise until I started reading just how much I would love it! If you are looking for a book like Twilight BUT so much better, then you should definitely check this out. It isn’t “like” Twilight, but I found there to be quite a few similarities and I got so excited at one point of the book when my brain clicked and I just flew through this one. I can’t wait for book 2! You can find my full review of this wonderful book here.

March Books

Rust: A Memoir of Steel and Grit by Eliese Colette Goldbach – 5 stars

This was the first book I finished in March. I read it for the @QuercusBooks #blogblast organised by Katya Ellis after she so kindly sent me a copy of this book. This was also my first ever memoir and I absolutely adored it. This story was so raw and beautiful, I was so emotional while reading this book and I already want to reread it again soon. The writing blew me away at times and I can only recommend this one. It isn’t a boring memoir like I was expecting, it’s so much more and I urge you to go read it, right after you read my review of it, here.

After (#1) and After We Collided (#2) by Anna Todd – 3 and 4 stars

• 

• 

These were the first audiobooks I’ve ever finished, and I have to say that I’m really proud of how I managed to get through these so fast. I started listening to The Alice Network by Kate Quinn on Scrib’d at the start of the month, but when I was scrolling through the different audiobooks on offer, I came across this series and I decided to give it a shot. I read these two while I was doing my university assignments when I wanted to read when I got in bed but neither had the energy or will power to hold up a book and physically read. I did enjoy these two books, the second more so than the first and I am looking forward to finishing the third book in the series some time soon. You can read the mini-review I did of these two audiobooks here.

Magic Unleashed (Venators #1) by Devri Walls – 5 stars

I was so glad to read this book in March as it was my first #blogtour I participated in hosted by Dave from @The_WriteReads. The blurb sounded absolutely fantastic and I had such a great time reading this book, I loved all the characters and I am so excited to be getting to book 2 in the next months, I can’t wait to see what happens, especially with a certain mysterious man in Rune’s life! You can check out my thoughts for this one in my review here.

The Unwanted by Z.T. Zoyoye – 4 stars

I read this book for Z.T. as a beta reader and I had such a fun time. Through my blog, I’ve realised that a lot of books I’m asked to read and review by authors are really very good, and this one was no exception. This one is part of the recent bounty of books I’ve read with a very strong and great friend group, I loved reading about all the characters and their friendship and I found this story to be really rather unique. I am looking forward to hearing about book 2 and being able to read it soon! My review of this book is here.

Black Watch by Gregory Burke – 4 stars

I read this book as part of my English literature assigned reading and I have to say, this module has really surprised me. I was quite worried at the start of the year on arriving in Stirling and seeing a list of no less than 12 books required reading, I thought that I had made a terrible mistake coming on this Erasmus trip, as in France we (barely) read one book a semester, I know it’s shocking. However, the books I was asked to read in this class have actually (mostly) surprised me, (except Waverley, that was awful) and I really enjoyed my time reading this book and watching the play. I haven’t done a review on my blog of this book as it wasn’t a book I decided to read, or was asked to read by an author/publisher or for a blog tour, but I did write a small review on Goodreads, here, if you would like to read it.

Towards the Vanishing Deep by Jan Turk Petrie – 4 stars

This was a book I read for the #RandomThinsTours by Anne Cater (I think you’ll be able to tell by now that I really love her tours, right?) and I really enjoyed it. I’d been wanting to read a unique historical fiction for a while, and this was the perfect book, with a splash of mystery and thriller added in. You can read my full review of this book here.

5 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Maurice Barkley – 5 stars

I absolutely adored my second time participating in a #blogtour organised by Dave from @The_WriteReads and this book was such a great one! I loved diving into the world of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson, not from Arthur Conan Doyle’s pen, but from Maurice’s and it was barely distinguishable from the original Sherlock stories. I have always loved Conan Doyle’s stories, even though I’ve only read a couple, I’ve seen quite a few adaptations and some series such as Elementary and this book just brought a tonne of nostalgia with every page, and as I said in my review, it made me feel like I had come home! I would definitely recommend this one, you can read my gushing review here.

Trail of Secrets (Dark Horse Book 1) by Laura Wolfe – 4 stars

Last, but by no means least on my wrap-up is my first-ever (yes I’m very proud) author request through my blog (and yes I did scream when I got Laura’s email). From the minute I read the author’s email, I knew I wanted to read this book, set at a riding academy in Michigan where a ghost story about a girl who went missing 4 years prior haunts our main character. I had such a great time reading this book, it was a really new experience for me, I really appreciated the setting and the characters were so great! I’m really looking forward to reading and reviewing the 2^nd and 3^rd books in the series for Laura in the next months and I would recommend you pick up this first installment, and to read my review here, while you are waiting for my thoughts on book 2!

Sadly, I wasn’t able to get to my Coffee Break Book Club picks for March, or the Hype-A-Thon Readathon books either (Noly and I started reading Circe but we didn’t get very far). However, I do think I did really rather well in March considering that my university shut, we went into lockdown and I had to follow classes online.

In March, I managed to read twice as many books as I did in February and I can already tell that I’m going to at least double March’s number in April. Apparently isolation is doing wonders for my TBR! I feel like the March books were all really diverse, a great bunch of books that I loved and I really recommend them all to you!

March Reading Stats

Number of books: 10

Number of pages: 2,653

Star ratings:

            3 stars: 1 book

            4 stars: 5 books

            5 stars: 4 books

Average rating: 4.3 ⭐

Genres: 1 memoir (non-fiction), 2 romances, 3 YA fantasies, 1 play, 1 historical fiction, 1 (historical fiction) anthology, and 1 YA mystery

Tell me in the comments which books you read in March and what were your thoughts! That’s all for now, I hope you enjoyed this wrap-up! See you soon, stay safe,

Ellie xx